RALLY AT CAPITOL CALLS ATTENTION TO GUN DEATHS

LISA CHEDEKEL; Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT

Ringing a bell in memory of each of the 195 Connecticut residents who lost their lives in gun-related incidents in 2001, members of the state's Million Mom March organization huddled on the steps of the Capitol Wednesday to call for renewed attention to gun control.

"Our gun laws have made a significant difference in deaths in our state, but there's still room for improvement," said Linda Payne-DiSarro, president of the group's Fairfield County chapter. The 2-year-old national organization aims to prevent gun violence.

Payne-DiSarro said that while parents must shoulder much of the responsibility for gun safety, the group also will push state lawmakers to enact new gun-control measures -- specifically, a ban on long-range, .50-caliber rifles. Two Democratic legislative leaders -- Senate Majority Leader George C. Jepsen, who is running for governor, and Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, co-chairman of the judiciary committee -- have said they will propose restrictions on the high-powered rifles in the legislative session that begins in February.

Payne-DiSarro, who was accompanied by about 30 members of the Million Mom group, said that while gun violence has declined nationally, "we still have nine kids die every day in this country as the result of gunfire. That's way too many."

Of the 195 gun deaths in the state last year, the majority -- 115 -- were suicides, while 76 were homicides, according to the state medical examiner's office. One shooting has been ruled accidental, while the circumstances of two other deaths are pending, and one case is undetermined.

The number of gun deaths peaked in Connecticut at 296 in 1993. It has, for the most part, declined steadily since then, although 2001 saw 13 more shooting deaths than 2000.

Payne-DiSarro said her group plans to commemorate future shooting deaths of state residents in monthly bell-ringing ceremonies at the Capitol.

Lobbyists for the rights of gun owners have vowed to fight a ban on .50-caliber weapons, saying the rifles are in the hands of target shooters and collectors and have not been used in crimes.